Restaurant hype and furore in London tend to be centred on high-end joints with ‘name’ chefs, frequently backed by the financial might of the international hotel chain. Ring any bells?

Meanwhile, in leafy suburbs or grungy backwaters, unsung little gaffs go about the business of keeping their customers happy day in, day out. Which is what it should all be about, really.

One such outfit is A Little Of What You Fancy; do please forgive the diabetes-inducingly sugary name because this is a proper star, hiding its sparkle under the bushel of the Dalston end of the Kingsland Road. So unassuming is this retiring little joint that even when you know the address, it’s easy to walk right by.

Inside, the air is fugged with the scent of roasting pork belly and the windows have started lightly steaming up. The scratched furniture looks like it was recently liberated from a vintage Primary 7; signs tell us about fresh eggs, there are crates of fruit and veg strewn around the tiled, corridor-like room.

The clientele is deliciously East End. But the welcome – from a tall, gangly bloke with the sweetest smile and a funky gal with hair like Sideshow Bob and a romper suit like Krusty the Clown who calls us ‘lovelies’ – is sheer luxury.

Bearing all this in mind, the menu, with its local, seasonal, sustainable and slightly quirky slant, will come as no surprise. Here’s one entry: ‘Hansen & Lydersen smoked salmon vs A Little Of What You Fancy whisky-cured salmon with rye’ – the two salmons, both good, one saltier and sharper, one sweeter and smokier, battling it out on some superlative, crumbly rye bread. Equally good are plump rope-grown mussels in a wonderfully fragrant broth, spiked with chilli jam.

Main courses are generous and well-cooked, no foams, no folderols, just a vast slab of that aromatic pork belly on mustard mash with a smart, spiced-citrus kumquat relish; and rosy duck breast, its skin rendered almost into crackling, with some wonderfully jammy red cabbage.

And finally, the definitive flourless chocolate cake, its squidgy richness refreshed with crème fraîche. Gin and vodka comes from London boutique distillers Sipsmith, beers from the Kernel Brewery and there’s a clever, concise wine list.

A Little Of What You Fancy is the baby of Elaine Chalmers and Laurence (Lola) Coone, who met at the Shoreditch Electricity Showrooms and are clearly very much at ease on their turf of kebab shops and Vietnamese caffs.

This little place isn’t about breaking new ground with fancy-schmancy techniques or wildly expensive kitchen kit; there’s no manipulative, rabid publicity courting (if I’d heard about breast milk ice cream one more time last week, I wasn’t going to be responsible for my actions). Snooty waiters will not grimace at your Gap coat. They do lazy, eggy brunches.

I realise that to its regulars, this review will feel about as welcome as when the tweens discover your favourite niche, underground band. My apologies. But I love A Little Of What You Fancy and I wish I lived next door.